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Regulatory Inspections

Where to find it: Audit & Inspection, then Regulatory Inspections (/inspections).

A Regulatory Inspection (INS-YYYY-NNNN) is the container for a supervisory interaction: an examination, a thematic review, a desk review or an ad-hoc inquiry from a competent authority.


Inspection types

TypeMeaning
supervisory_examinationA formal supervisory examination
thematic_reviewA review of a specific theme across firms
on_site_inspectionAn on-site visit
desk_reviewA remote review of submitted material
ad_hoc_inquiryA specific supervisory question

Lifecycle

StatusMeaning
activeThe inspection is live
drafting_responseA response package is being prepared
in_reviewThe response is under governed review
response_submittedA formal response has been submitted
follow_upSupervisory follow-up in progress
closedConcluded
archivedRetained for the record

What an inspection carries

FieldPurpose
Business referenceINS-YYYY-NNNN
AuthorityThe supervisory body
Inspection typeThe classification above
External referenceThe authority's own notice or reference number
Title and descriptionContext
Coordinator and accountable ownerWho runs it, and who is accountable
Received, start, end, report datesThe timeline
Response deadlineWhen a response is due
Submitted date and byThe submission record
Sign-off status and stageThe governed approval record
Response packageThe formal statement and remediation roadmap
Historical snapshotsImmutable frozen packages as submitted
Regulator acknowledgement and feedbackThe authority's response

Response deadlines, report dates and commitment milestones project into the GRC Calendar.


Correspondence

Every interaction with the authority is logged:

TypeUse
letter_receivedCorrespondence received from the authority
response_sentCorrespondence sent
meeting_notesA record of a meeting
clarification_requestA request for clarification, in either direction
status_updateA progress update

A complete correspondence log is not administrative tidiness. When an examination runs for eight months across three coordinators, it is the only reliable record of what was actually said.


Scope

Inspections link to canonical objects — legal entities, departments, business services, assets, third parties, engagements, controls, risks and requirements — using the same universal scope mechanism as everything else.


Dual wording preservation

The regulator's exact wording is preserved separately

Every inspection observation preserves the exact verbatim wording used by the authority, held separately from your internal technical interpretation and root cause analysis.

The two are never merged. When you later report on remediation, you can quote the observation as written rather than as you understood it — and any divergence between the two is visible rather than silently absorbed.


Working with Continuous Assurance off

Regulatory inspection management is fully functional with the Continuous Assurance entitlement disabled. It requires the regulatory_inspections entitlement.


Permissions

ActionPermission
View inspections, reports, candidates, items and responsesinspection.read
Create, edit and coordinate inspections and correspondenceinspection.manage
Ingest reports and run candidate extractioninspection.extract
Confirm candidates and canonicalise theminspection.canonicalize
Review and approve formal response packagesinspection.signoff
Generate AI advisory extractions and draftsinspection.ai_assist

Example

Inspection INS-2026-0002 — Thematic review of outsourcing governance.

FieldValue
AuthorityPrudential supervisor
Typethematic_review
External referenceThe authority's notice number
Received14 February
Response deadline30 April
CoordinatorHead of Compliance
Accountable ownerChief Risk Officer

Scope links: the group legal entity, the outsourcing business service, eleven material third-party engagements, four controls and six requirements.

Correspondence log:

DateTypeSummary
14 Febletter_receivedNotice of thematic review with information request
28 Febresponse_sentInformation submission, 14 items
12 Marmeeting_notesOn-site meeting with the supervisory team
3 Aprletter_receivedDraft observations, 9 items
24 Aprresponse_sentFormal response package
19 Mayletter_receivedAcknowledgement, two items closed, seven under follow-up

Six months later, when a new Head of Compliance asks what was agreed in the 12 March meeting, the answer is in the log.


Troubleshooting

"Should this be an inspection or an audit engagement?" If an external authority initiated it under supervisory powers, it is an inspection. If your own third line initiated it under the audit plan, it is an engagement.

"Regulatory Inspections is not visible." Requires the regulatory_inspections entitlement and inspection.read.

"The response deadline is not on the calendar." Check that the deadline is recorded on the inspection record.


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